Individual storage devices (e.g., disks) are useful for storing data. Over the years, many optimizations of individual storage devices have been made. While optimized individual devices are useful, collections of storage devices may be even more useful. For example, data protection schemes (e.g., replication, erasure coding (EC), redundant arrays of independent disks (RAID)) may be implemented on a collection of disks to provide greater data protection than is possible with just a single disk. Typically, the data protection scheme is tightly integrated with the devices available and controls the number of devices used to store data.
Using collections of storage devices over which stored data may be distributed to protect the data may produce issues beyond those associated with any single storage device. For example, issues concerning maximizing performance, maximizing configurability, and minimizing data vulnerability all while managing power consumption may be much more complex for collections of devices than for individual devices.